---
title: Traditional RAG with PgVector
---

This example demonstrates traditional RAG implementation using PgVector database with OpenAI embeddings, where knowledge context is automatically added to prompts without search functionality.

## Code

```python traditional_rag_pgvector.py
from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.knowledge.embedder.openai import OpenAIEmbedder
from agno.knowledge.knowledge import Knowledge
from agno.models.openai import OpenAIChat
from agno.vectordb.pgvector import PgVector, SearchType

db_url = "postgresql+psycopg://ai:ai@localhost:5532/ai"

knowledge = Knowledge(
    # Use PgVector as the vector database and store embeddings in the `ai.recipes` table
    vector_db=PgVector(
        table_name="recipes",
        db_url=db_url,
        search_type=SearchType.hybrid,
        embedder=OpenAIEmbedder(id="text-embedding-3-small"),
    ),
)

knowledge.add_content(
    url="https://agno-public.s3.amazonaws.com/recipes/ThaiRecipes.pdf"
)

agent = Agent(
    model=OpenAIChat(id="gpt-5-mini"),
    knowledge=knowledge,
    # Enable RAG by adding context from the `knowledge` to the user prompt.
    add_knowledge_to_context=True,
    # Set as False because Agents default to `search_knowledge=True`
    search_knowledge=False,
    markdown=True,
)
agent.print_response(
    "How do I make chicken and galangal in coconut milk soup", stream=True
)
```

## Usage

<Steps>
  <Snippet file="create-venv-step.mdx" />

  <Step title="Install libraries">
    ```bash
    pip install -U agno openai sqlalchemy psycopg pgvector
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Setup PgVector">
    ```bash
    # Start PostgreSQL container with pgvector
    ./cookbook/run_pgvector.sh
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export your OpenAI API key">

    <CodeGroup>

    ```bash Mac/Linux
      export OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_api_key_here"
    ```

    ```bash Windows
      $Env:OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_api_key_here"
    ```
    </CodeGroup> 
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a Python file">
    Create a Python file and add the above code.
    ```bash
    touch traditional_rag_pgvector.py
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run Agent">
    <CodeGroup>
    ```bash Mac
    python traditional_rag_pgvector.py
    ```
    
    ```bash Windows
    python traditional_rag_pgvector.py
    ```
    </CodeGroup>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Find All Cookbooks">
  Explore all the available cookbooks in the Agno repository. Click the link below to view the code on GitHub:

  <Link href="https://github.com/agno-agi/agno/tree/main/cookbook/agents/rag" target="_blank">
    Agno Cookbooks on GitHub
  </Link>
</Step>
</Steps>